It's that time of year again- I'm fully engaged in planning our next Disney trip!

Normal people just go on a Disney vacation like they would any other- book it and go- but there is a sub set of the population who will not set foot on sacred Disney soil without reading at least three guides,spending countless hours on Disney world message boards, and making spreadsheets,grids plotting each scheduled event from EMH (extra magic hours) to parade and show times thereby ensuring each park day is spent in the best choice for maximizing magical opportunities. This all before making ADRs (advanced dining reservations).

It's advanced vacation recon and not for the faint of heart.

Don't let it stress you, you can jump into a Disney vacation with no reading or planning and have a beautiful time.

Ignorance is bliss afterall and you will be clueless to all your missing out on, while uber planners like myself utilize our knowledge to maximize our time and take advantage of the little known perks of Disney.

We only go once a year so I feel it's my duty to pack all this in for my kids. My friend goes several times a year and is in fact on her way now (jealous) and though she does read up some, and was the one who first told me about the crazy Disney forums I frequent she probably has done less planning/ research than I and this is only my third trip total! Frequency of visits means she can gather this info naturally, though she has read enough to know of many perks beforehand - like the Wishes desert buffet and preferred viewing area.

I don't have the luxury of frequent visits so I go into crazy planning/research mode for about 8 months of the year. And I love it! The only thing better than being on a Disney vacation is planning one.

So since this is occupying about 85% of my brain at this time and i have several friends planning their first Disney trips with their kids I am going to start another new weekly segment-

Another Disney Day.

Playing on their current promotion One More Disney Day, I feel it's an appropriate title.

In this segment I plan on interspersing little vacation tips and tricks I've learned, planning info, any little interesting tid bits about Disney that strike me , Walt Disney World news, and my own trip report I'm writing from our last trip. I wrote it up for our own memories but since I use this blog for that purpose anyway I'm posting it on here. Yes, I'm still writing it!

So Disney fans you'll enjoy this, others maybe don't read on Thursdays...

I'm not pretending all this info is original to me in any sense. I'm merely packaging what I find helpful and interesting for my readers so they don't have to search on their own. I have what's called a marathon nurser in Layla which has left me sitting for many hours over the past 17 months and much of that time is spent researching Walt Disney World, not many have that much time where they are forced to sit and entertain themselves so I will help by wrangling all the massive info from the interwebs in one convenient place- muh blog. You're welcome :) Feel free to pin Anything you find helpful ;)

I was going to leave this as just an intro/ announcement but I'll start with a personal tip that I came up with on my very own.

Disney trips are chock full of memorable moments each day. But as sensory overload and fatigue set in those memories fade away.

What I found to be endlessly useful this trip was to jot everything down in my iPhone . Waiting in line is a great time to do this. Unfortunately I waited often to do it in bed and probably forgot little things but still so much was retained that I would never have remembered. Now months later I can read my notes and the memories come rushing back and I can capture them forever as I write out my trip report. It's worth it! So when your child eats her first Mickey head ice cream- take a picture and write it down in your notes for the day, a cast member gives you some kind of pixie dust- write it down! All the little magical moments are still magical and you'll thank yourself later!




(staring endlessly at Cinderella's castle while waiting for Daddy to pay our Crystal Palace bill...magical)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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